There is a way for Starmer’s Labour to fix the big rift with Muslim voters – if it has the will | Miqdaad Versi

The local and mayoral elections saw many Muslim voters who had traditionally voted Labor abandon the party they had loyally supported for decades.

One incident from one interview and in particular one opinion I heard in my area is front and center: “I was disgusted when Keir Starmer supported Israel’s collective punishment of the Palestinians in Gaza – how can I vote for someone who doesn’t even apologize for it?” said one man, referring to Starmer’s performance in interview for LBC last October and confirmed by senior colleague same week.

It is true that Labor stood its ground has been misinterpretedand his position on Gaza eventually changed, albeit after Israel had killed far more 25,000 Palestinians, most of which were women and childrenand after the international court deemed Israel as such plausibly committing genocide. For example David Lammy, Shadow Foreign Secretary, said that Israel must fully comply with the “deeply serious” decision of the IC and the party Named for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”. Lisa Nandy, the shadow minister for international development, did Named to resume funding for UNRWA, the UN relief agency.

But as another voter told me: “The future prime minister should lead, not follow. When is he really going to lead and stop our taxpayer funded weapons going to this apartheid state?’

And that gets to the heart of the matter. Can Labor win back these voters or is Starmer’s LBC interview the equivalent of Gordon Brown’s The Gillian Duffy moment or the war in Iraq, losing a generation of Labor voters for many years? This is likely to be an uphill battle. But it is possible.

We saw how Labor candidates Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham won their mayoral elections in areas with a large Muslim population. Both have a long track record of engaging with Muslim communities as ordinary citizens and both broke Labor ranks in demanding a ceasefire at the end of October last year. They led the way and were rewarded.

At the national labor level, the challenge to restore trust is much more difficult. It might even be overwhelming for the upcoming general election – given the mistakes Gazacompounding longer-standing problems of a lack of deep engagement with Muslim communities.

The false narrative we must follow is the one promoted by the far right and other dissident skeptics who cite the results of local elections to demonize Muslims, suggesting that the vote shows that we only care about external issues.

The impersonal voices in the party reflect these racist views and treat Muslim voters as foreigners without the right to choose who to vote for. There was a “senior Labor Party source” who was quoted as describing the resignation of advisers on the Gaza issue as “shaking off the fleas“.

This was condemned by Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, as “shameful thing to say“. However, the Labor leadership – in my view – needs to combat such narratives and reframe its understanding of British Muslim voters as active and ultimately rational actors who, like other groups, cannot be taken for granted and seek parties that advocate policies they care about.

Consider the central issue surrounding the unfolding genocide in Gaza. The main problems are poor decision-making, lack of leadership and lack of adherence to core labor values ​​such as human rights, justice and international law. Aren’t these rational issues we should all care about?

It bears repeating that first and second generation Muslims – in all their diversity – participate and engage in our democracy. It is not as if the community are unengaged actors.

Most simply don’t vote Labor in droves anymore. While few are moving to the Conservative Party, given its institutional Islamophobia, many are finding alternatives, whether independent candidates or the Lib Dems and Green Party. They feel free to look for alternatives. With Labor tipped to win big in the upcoming general election, it can do so without the accusation that it could support a right-wing alternative that would be even worse.

It’s also worth saying that if the Conservative Party goes after someone like Andy Street, former mayor of the West Midlands, there are a number of Muslims who could defect to the Conservatives. In his kind concession speech, Street advocates a “modern, inclusive” form of conservatismand he has actively resisted the Islamophobic narrative of others in his party.

So we have a choice, but obviously Labor has a choice too. It can seek to really listen, really engage and try to understand British Muslim voters. It can offer an apology for mistakes, an internal policy focused on justice rather than service, and “progressive realism” a foreign policy based on justice, human rights and equality. There is a way if there is a will.

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